Kevin Smith Announces New ‘He-Man’ Series As A Netflix Original Anime

It’s the time for 80’s revivals. Filmmaker and professional fan Kevin Smith just announced a brand new He-Man, Masters Of The Universe Anime series for Netflix.

Acclaimed filmmaker Kevin Smith, was actually featured in a few weeks ago. The filmmaker is now back with a new project. Smith recently dropped the trailer for his brand new film, a reboot sequel to his own movie, Jay And Silent Bob Reboot, releasing on October 2019.

At this year’s Power-Con convention, Smith announced a brand new series for Netflix, based on the 80’s cult hit, He-Man. Smith even worked in a pun of his own during the announcement.

Image via IMDb

“I’m Eternia-ly grateful to Mattel TV and Netflix for entrusting me with not only the secrets of Grayskull but also their entire Universe,” Smith said referring to the fictional world of Eternia that the show is set in. He also promised the show would not be a “Stinkor,” which is the name of humanoid skunk who traps enemies with a terrible stench.

Smith will be executive producing the series, as well as running as showrunner. Smith teams up with his long-time Podcast partner, as well as acclaimed writers of series like Alphas and Castle Rock, Marc Bernardin for the show. Powerhouse Animation will be handling the anime aspect for the new show, who is also responsible for another Netflix original anime, Castlevania.

A He-Man series at Netflix is kind of a big deal. For many reasons.

Who Is He-Man And Why Is He So Popular, Man?

He-Man was one of the ’80s most popular and revered animated cartoon franchises. The show was based on popular action figures by the toy company Mattel. The titular He-Man character may or may not have been based on Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan The Barbarian.

Image via Screengrab

The toy-line was accompanied by illustrated books that told the story of He-Man. The success of the toys eventually became the animated television show. He-Man’s alter ago was Prince Adam, ruler of the kingdom of Eternia. Adam had the ability to transform into the hero He-Man with a power sword to defend his kingdom against Skeletor, a demon from another universe.

Since then, the franchise has seen games, comic books and many other iterations in various media. There was even a live-action movie in 1987 starring Dolph Lundgren as He-Man. A live-action reboot is currently being developed by Sony Pictures, starring Noah Centineo in the role of He-Man.

He-Man Is Perfectly In Kevin Smith’s Wheelhouse

As intricately detailed in our spotlight of one of our favourite directors, Kevin Smith is a fan first. The critically acclaimed and beloved writer, director, podcaster, host, moderator, and all-around entertainment star loves storytelling. His unabashed love for movies comics and television is unlike anyone else in the mainstream entertainment industry. So entrusting him with a fan-favourite franchise seems like a no brainer.

Especially when that franchise happens to be one he loves to begin with.

But What About She-Ra, The Princess Of Power?

The one disappointing aspect of this bit of news is that the new Masters Of The Universe: Revelation series will be a continuation to the 1980’s animated show. Smith explained in his announcement that the story of the new series will resolve unfinished arcs from that original series.

“In ‘Revelation,’ we pick up right where the classic era left off to tell an epic tale of what may be the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor!”

This is disappointing because Netflix currently has a hugely successful He-Man spin-off in She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power.

Image via Netflix

She-Ra is He-Man’s long lost twin sister, stolen as a child and taken to the planet Etheria in another dimension. The character got her spin-off in the ’90s as well. The Netflix original reboot is a modern-day reimagining with new animation techniques and an amazingly well-done storyline.

The new She-Ra promotes positive female role models and great story arcs about friendship, along with engaging conflicts. It also improves upon a typical TV trope about the hero and villain starting as friends and becoming bitter enemies. With Season 3 currently on Netflix, She-Ra seemed to be planting the seeds to a He-Man spin-off, which seems unlikely now.

What do you think of the new Kevin Smith produced Masters Of The Universe: Revelation anime series? Let us know in the comments below.

Shah Shahid is an entertainment writer, movie critic (so he thinks), host of the Split Screen Podcast (on Apple Podcasts & everywhere else) and filmy father on a mission to educate his girls on decades of film history. Armed with uncontrollable sarcasm and cautious optimism, Shah loves discussing film, television and comic book content until his wife’s eyes glaze over. So save her by engaging him on his own blog at BlankPageBeatdown.com or on Twitter @theshahshahid.

In their Television Critics’ Association panel on Wednesday, network president Karey Burke revealed that plans are in motion for a new live-action Marvel female hero series. When Agents of SHIELD wrap-up their final mission next year, it will mark the first time since The Avengers ABC will not host a Marvel series on its air. […]

A lot of our history posts on gaming have been about a series like Gears of War or Halo. As a huge Nintendo fan, however, I think we need to take a look at a recent console. It’s tough to say exactly what sort of impact the Wii U had on gaming at the time […]

When Wii Fit came out, people wondered who would actually use it. As it turned out, a lot of people enjoyed playing games while they did mild exercise. The game’s sequel even made its way to the Wii U. The appeal of a game like Wii Fit is the ability to engage with the workout. […]

There are a lot of ideas from Apple that sound crazy at first. Nobody imagined you could carry 30,000 songs in your pocket. Everyone wondered if an expensive tablet could replace their desktop computer. We’ve been in this position before. Apple’s gaming service, Arcade, is one of those ideas that seems like a potential miss. […]

Trending

At the end of the first Iron Man film, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark met Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, and superhero movies changed forever. The big advantage Marvel Studios had over other franchises was its deep roster of characters and stories. A new, never-before-seen alternate Iron Man post-credits scene presents fans with a much […]

Every year, Marvel and DC Comics have some kind of major Comic Book Events that, at least temporarily, shakes up the status quo if their heroes. It used to be “this year’s event”—now we see two or three a year. At Marvel, in 2019, the X-Men had an apparently universe-changing event with Age of X-Man […]

A lot of our history posts on gaming have been about a series like Gears of War or Halo. As a huge Nintendo fan, however, I think we need to take a look at a recent console. It’s tough to say exactly what sort of impact the Wii U had on gaming at the time […]

Amongst all of the sequels, franchises, and terror-filled films, Honey Boy stands out like a breath of fresh air at TIFF. In fact, a lot of Shia LaBeouf’s post-Transformers films seem to do so. Borg vs McEnroe, American Honey, and more recently, The Peanut Butter Falcon aren’t the kinds of films you’d ever have expected from the Hollywood Bad Boy […]